* A PHYSICAL FATALITY

CRIMSON HEADACHE, ACHING BLUSH. indie oc. by maxi.

[wingstorn]

[wingstorn]

intoxthextrees:

With nothing more but a simple nod, he gave her shoulder a gentle touch and opened the door to the trailer cubicle that was his bathroom. He got the shower head running, closed the door again and helped her out of her clothes while the water warmed up. “ Here, lemme give you a hand… ”

Thaniel was as careful as a carpenter giving life to a block of wood. He was known for being good at his job, after all. His calloused fingers untied the laces of her shoes and pulled them off, socks and all, first. Next, it was her coat, sweater and shirt. The more of her skin was revealed in the dim neon lights coming through the window, the more his stomach churned and his anger rose and his soul broke. A small part of him wondered how she was still alive.

“ Alright, hold on. ” For once, he was capable of concealing his emotions for the sake of not making Shel feel worse. In an instant he got rid of his clothes too and then held her hands to help her get on her feet.

        she felt so ashamed of all the cuts, bruises, and burns he had to see across her skin. old faded scars could hardly even be noticed over all of the new ones she’d eventually bear. reminders of many things, but above all -- how little she could trust zach. 

very carefully she took thaniel’s hands and got to her feet. everything still felt like a blur and unreal. every time she let her mind wander she felt as if she wasn’t even part of her own body, like she was watching herself from a mile away. but this was all real and it was happening. she was safe ( or so she hoped ) and she had thaniel by her side again. 

she was thankful for how gentle he was. especially given his size and temper, it was always nice to be reminded of this good side that was so kind and soft to her. it was what she needed right now more than anything else.

[jeonjungkook]

[wingstorn]

thundror:

     There’s a pause. Customs change, over the years, and Thor must admit that he’s still more familiar with this realm as it had been centuries ago. ( It’s easier to exist in a time and a place where you are needed, where you matter, where people make sacrifices in your name alone. Who could blame him for preferring it? ) She’ll have to forgive him for being slow on the uptake sometimes. 

     ‘ It was not my intent to insult you. Apologies. ’ 

     “ you’re all good, big guy. ”  she gives him a bit of a nudge and smiles to show she’s hardly insulted.  “ just be lucky i’m a good sport. ”  her accent is thicker than usual, just to mask herself. makes her sound like when she was younger and growing up in the corner of georgia. it’s the easiest cover she has to pull out on the spot. plus it gives her more of that sweet southern belle look she’s going for here.  “ i know someone else probably would have chewed your ear off for that. ”

[darthvaders]

[wingstorn]

@thundror

      she knows who he is. this day and age it’s kind of hard not to. but, she can have a little fun can’t she?  “ they must not have manners where you come from, huh, mister? ”  she’s got a sweet face and a gentle voice to match it.  “ better be careful there, some people don’t like that. ”

[wingstorn]

intoxthextrees:

He stopped in the midst of the movement to open the car door when he felt her grip. Looking over his shoulder, his eyebrows knit together as a new drop of blood beaded from the gash on on his left temple and rolled down toward his cheek, leaving a red trail behind. “ I love you, too, ” he returned, gently overlapping his hand on top of hers. “ I’ll be right back, okay? Promise. ”

Luck was on their side (or maybe the clerk was that bored), because he was in and out of the gas station with everything they needed with no problems. He took care of Shel’s wounds to the best of his ability, gave her something light to eat and more water, and they were back on the road. When they got to Pennsylvania they ditched the stolen car in a parking lot (Thaniel left a note in the glove compartment saying ‘sorry for stealing your car – emergency. Thanks.’) and he bought them some new clothes so they could hop into a bus without being questioned. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he didn’t leave Shel’s side the whole way home.

At last, they were in Detroit again, where he hitched a ride from one of his friends. Thaniel carried Shel in his arms and took her into his trailer, closing the door with his foot. There was no happy “home sweet home” from his part; he simply took her to the bed and sat her on it, letting out a long, tired sigh. “ You want anything? ” He asked while he began to remove his clothes. “ Food, water? A shower? I could use a shower. ”

       at some point during the trip she managed to fall asleep. it was much of a surprise given all the shit she’d gone through but she had tried so hard to put off falling asleep only because she was terrified of letting her guard down. it was easier to do so on the bus though because at least then she was able to curl against thaniel and know that he was there to keep her safe. still though, she woke up within the hour from her own anxieties. 

the trailer was practically heaven to her at this point. something that felt like home. ( she wasn’t going to be able to go to her apartment any time soon anyways ). it took her a bit to answer his question, too focused on trying to get herself to realize that she wasn’t stuck in that room anymore. that she was safe.  “ a shower. ”  she nodded. couldn’t remember the last time she had a proper one.  “ please. ”

[wingstorn]

intoxthextrees:

“ My bad. ” He half shrugged. “ Well, I doubt we’ll be seeing her soon either way… She said she’d get a message sent to you after the heat dies down a bit. Guess she’ll want to know you’re if okay and that we escaped without hassle. ” In the distance, Thaniel spotted a gas station by the side of the road and lit up the turn signal. “ Yeah, alright… If you want to. But for now, I’m gonna get a few things. Shit… ” 

He had looked in the rear view mirror and caught sight of himself with blood all over his face. He couldn’t go inside looking like that, didn’t want to scare the clerk into calling an ambulance or worse, the cops. He took off his hoodie and tried to wipe the red out of his skin, but it didn’t do much good. Next best plan: rush into the store and toward the toilet before anyone could notice how bad he looked. “ Alright, fuck that. Here I go. ”

       “ hey, ”  she managed to reach forward for him before he left the car. just enough strength to grasp at his elbow and hopefully stop him before he exited the car.  “ i love you. ”  she had to say it before he left her alone again. just in case. her anxiety built up so heavily now she couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to tell him those words to his face again. she had to make sure he knew.  “ please be careful. ”

[makomoriz]

[wingstorn]

intoxthextrees:

He let his thumb rub over her busted knuckles very softly for a moment, before letting go and turning back around to start the car again. Once more on the road, he stayed quiet for about a mile, thinking nonstop, and then cleared his throat to say: “ I’m not mad at you, y’know. For any of this. Your friend with the Russian accent, Koshka, she explained everything to me. Almost… everything. ”

       “ she’s from ukraine. ”  she quipped up pretty quickly.  “ don’t call her russian. not to her face at least. she might eat you alive. ”  she tucked herself down in her seat a bit more to try and make herself look just that much smaller. like she was trying to hide from everything. it made her body ache but it was the only way to settle her mind.  “ i... i promise i’ll explain myself when everything calms down. ”

[wnq-quoteoftheday]

Ten years from now, make sure you can say that you chose your life, you didn’t settle for it.

Mandy Hale, The Single Woman

@wordsnquotes | @wnq-quoteoftheday

(via wordsnquotes)

[wingstorn]

intoxthextrees:

He was blown back by the sight of the tears. He’d never seen her get misty eyed before, and she put up such a tough and confident front a small part of him had started to think she just couldn’t cry. Shit. “ Hey, look… ” He held out his hand, palm facing up, for her to take if she wanted. “ It’s okay, it’s over now. We’re out of New York, we should be safe for a bit, so… Plan is to find some place to get first aid supplies and food and take a moment to breathe. How’s that sound? ”

      she glanced down at his hand and took it with as firm of a grip as she could. which, in the end, wasn’t very firm at all.  “ i fucked up. ”  she managed while using her other hand to carefully rub at her eyes.  “ i’m sorry. ”  but she knew that they were going to have this talk later and she could explain herself properly. plus, food sounded really good right now.  “ supplies and food... ”  she nodded.  “ s’good. ”

[wingstorn]

intoxthextrees:

Thaniel stayed out of the highways and stuck to the country roads as much as possible. Less people in them, less cops, too. Still drove past many gas stations, diners and motels. The sun was still a fair distance away from the horizon. He was considering stopping somewhere to get them food and more water, maybe some coffee, when she spoke up. Frowning, he pulled over on the side of the road, switched off the ignition and turned around on his seat to look at her. “ Don’t worry about that for now. You’ve just been put through hell and you’re hurt. Right now, all I care about is patching you up and get you home. When that’s done, we’ll talk about everything else, okay? ”

     tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at him. despite his assurances, she still felt incredibly guilty for everything. for worrying him. for getting herself in this mess. for dragging him down with her. god, it was all so fucked up and it was all her fault. though, all she could really do at first was nod to his words.  “ okay. ”  her voice was softer now. mostly because she was trying to keep from showing the noticeable break in it now caused by her emotions. 

[wingstorn]

intoxthextrees:

“ We’re almost safe. We’ll be home in a matter of hours. ” He helped her out with the seat belt and at last got in the driver’s seat and drove them to the edge of town, always staying within the speed limit to avoid getting pulled over, no matter how much he wanted to step on the gas. He was so nervous he wouldn’t stop tapping his fingers on the wheel. Once in a while he looked in the rear view mirror to check on Shel, and he hardly spoke. A painfully long half hour later, they were leaving New York and only then did he sigh with relief.

      she was silent for most of the ride. mostly caught up in her own thoughts. she wanted nothing more than to curl up somewhere and sleep for a decade or two maybe. her whole body ached and it felt like every movement she did was pinned down by weights. her eyes were heavy but her mind was too busy to keep they shut for too long.  “ you weren’t supposed to find out about any of this. ”  she finally managed, sick of the quiet because she’d been forced in quiet for too long.

[wingstorn]

intoxthextrees:

You could say stealing a car is like riding a bike –you never really forget how to do it no matter how much time passes. He came prepared for this, all he had to do was an innocent victim parked somewhere isolated, all alone and just waiting to get stolen. You’d think in a big city people would be more cautious about that stuff, but seems not because he didn’t take long finding a target, breaking into it and rigging it up to drive. Ah, memory. Not two minutes later he was pulling up by the alley and getting out to go get Shel. “ Here we go, ” he mumbled as he picked her off the floor and brought her to the car, settling her on the back seat. He removed the hood and bandana. “ You holding up? ”

        it took a lot of strength that she didn’t have to keep from going crazy as she was left alone, no matter how short of a time span it was. she’d spent the last month isolated, only ever visited by a man meant to do her harm and rarely gifted the help she needed by a friend. every noise she heard made her hold her breath and clutch the bottle of water she held just a bit tighter. every second that passed all she could think about was zach on his way to find her and finally finish the job. by the time thaniel came back to her, she was startled by the sight of him but complied to his efforts of help without complaint. it took her a moment to answer his question.  “ as best as i can... ”

[wingstorn]

intoxthextrees:

“ Hey. ” He picked up both her hands and enveloped them in his, looking her straight in the eyes as he spoke. “ I’m not gonna leave you, okay? I’ve come this far to get you, the last thing I’m gonna do is dump you in some dark alleyway and fuck off.  Alright? I’ll be back before you know it and I’m taking us home. Promise. ” He put a quick peck on her forehead before pulling the bandana back over his face, for the last time that day he hoped. “ Don’t worry. Drink up. ” And with that, he stood up and turned to leave the alley, pulling his hood over his head.

      she looked up at him, clinging to every word he spoke to her and trying to understand that, yes, he was going to be coming back to her. that didn’t stop her from reaching out for him even as she managed a small “okay” to his words. she watched as he turned and left the alley, leaving her there alone. it terrified her but all she had to do was continue to remind herself that he’d be back for her. 

[wingstorn]

intoxthextrees:

“ Don’t thank me yet, ” he said gravely. “ We’re not out of the fucking woods. ” He glanced over his shoulder while crouching down next to her, trying to think. They had to get away and they had to do it fast. He couldn’t afford to wait even half an hour. Good thing he was good at the whole ‘impulsive’ thing. Most of the time. But he couldn’t carry her around AND high jack a ride at the same time. Thaniel removed his jacket and placed it around Shel’s shoulders as gently as he could. “ Drink some more and wait here. I’ll come back to get you in a minute, yeah? ”

    it was the moment he told her to wait that set a panic through her veins. he was going to leave her all alone. sure, it was only going to be for a short time and he had no other choice but that didn’t stop her from reaching out to grab him and nearly dropping the bottle of water she held in the process.  “ you... you promise you’re gonna come back? ”